Polisher



L.,. A. OLSEN Aug. 16, 1932.

POLISHER Filed May 26, 1951 INVENTQR ww/ A @5N BY ATTORNEY 'A10 In recent years,

by the rotating y '50 trifugal force against walls or furniture, or

Patented Aug. 16, 1932 PATENT oFFicE wnwrc A. oLsEN, or BROOKLYN, NEW vom: j

c rOLIsnEn Application med nay 26, 193.1. serial No, 540,076.

This invention relates to a device for' polishing, and particularly to a device adapt-y ed simultaneously to apply Va polish to one s portion of a surface and to rub or 'buff an adjacent portion of the surface, whereby the polishing operation may be continued and v the polish may be applied and rubbed to the desired polished condition in a single operJ ation.

vices for polishing surfaces such as fioors and the like have been suggested, and many of them placed uponv the market. The use of such devices has resulted in great labor 15 saving in so far as the rubbing of the iioor after application of the pollsh is'concerned. So far as I am aware, no device has heretofore been known which is capable satisfacc torily of applying the polishing material and '20 rubbing it to develop the desired polish on the surface, Vboth in a single operation. am aware that various devices have been tried for this purpose, in whichspreaders for the wax or the polish are attached to thev rubbing or brushing device, and precede it over the surface. Vith such devices, however, any excess polish, or any polish which is loose upon the surface is likely to be caught brush and thrown by cenonto nearby rugs, and this spattering over adjacent objects may, in many cases, prove seriously objectionable. Furthermore, in any device in which the polish is applied to a place outside ofthe brush and is then polished, any polish which remains'soft or gummy is likely to collect on the bristles of the brush, and thereby to prevent the production of a satisfactory finish upon the floor or other surface.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a device. which will be adapted to apply the polishing material in such manner that it will be completely utilized in polishing the surface,l and all splattering vor wastage of the material and gumming of the polisher, with consequent streaking etc., will be substantially avoided. v In the accompanying drawing I have illus- 'cu trated by way of example a preferred form numerous mechanical dev vided to enclose a space within the annular of my invention and a number of modifica tions thereof. v

Fig. l is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of my invention partly in section. i V I Figs. 2and 3 are respectively horizontal .and vertical fragmentary section views illustrating another modification within the in! vention. Y

Referring first to Fig. 1, I have illustrated a polisher having an annular brush 10 rotatably mounted with a housing 11. `This brush is driven by the motor 12through the gear 1301i the motor shaft 14, the idler gear 15, and the ring gear 16 attached to the back of the vbrush 10. Abovevthe housing 11'and surrounding the motor 12 is a second housing 17, the upper portion of which forms an annularl reservoir having a iiller opening 18 and a valve outlet 19. Beneath this reservoir, or otherwise adjacent this reservoir, may be mounted an electric heating element 2() for use in case a fusible polish is to be used, such as solid wax. This heating ele.- ment may advantageously be controlled'by a thermostatic switch (not shown).

Near the bottom of the housing A17 are openings 21, through which air may pass to a central space surrounded by the annular brush l0. Corresponding openings 22 in the housing 11 and 23 in the centralshield 24 are also provided for passage of the air drawn in through the openings 21.

YThe Central shield 24 is preferably probrush 10, so that the waX, or other vpolishing material may be distributed over the floor or other surface without any substantial part of vit being applied directly to the bristles of the brush 10. The weight of the device may, if 9U desired, be carried upon this central shield,

as shown in the drawing, thus relieving the bristles of the brush from the full weight of the machine. j i

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. `1, 95

I have shown a fan 25 mounted upon the end of the motor shaft 14,' which serves the dual purpose of promoting circulation of the'air entering through the openings V21 Aand of 10o spraying the liquid polishing material which if the material is previously fused and it ispoured into the reservoir in a liquid condition, the heat of the motor may be sufficient to` maintain it in liquid condition. f

The motor is then started and the valve 2 is opened sufciently to permit the 'desired amount of polishing material `to flow through the tube l26. The liquid polish, as it drops from the tube 26 is struck by the rapidly rotating blades of the fan 25, and is converted thereby into a fine mist or spray, which is blown .by the action of the fan against the surface which is being polished. Theguard 24 prevents any of the polish which may be thrown from the tips of the blades from getting directly onto the brush 10, and allows it, instead, to drop down adjacent the felt 27,

where it will be spread byy the felt before coming under the brush 10. As a matter of pratice, however, substantially the entire amount of'wa-X fed will be deposited upon the floor, or other surface, in finely divided condition and such small amount of the wax as may'strike thea-hield is ordinarily dried or solidified, so that no drip to the floor will result. This dried or solidified wax can easily be'broken off from this shield when it collects to aV degree which would be objectionable.V As the polisher is moved over the surface, the portion of the surface which has had the wax applied thereto inthe manner just described, comes under the brush l0, and the is rubbed thereby into the surface, andthe surface is thoroughly buffed before finally being left by the further passage of the polishing device'.

t is an advantage of the device as illustrated that any tendency of the brush to throw .loose wax by centrifugal action serves only to throw the wax further into the brush, Where it will be subsequently rubbed onto the surface, and there is no tendency whatever to throw such loose wax away from the brusln Furthermore, and particularly when the annular felt strip 27 is omitted or does not fully contact with the fioor. The centrifugal action of the brush l() serves to permit a cir- '.culation of air in through the openings 2l,

and out through the brush 10. rIhis circula- V" tion makes for rapid drying of the wax, particularly when an emulsion or solution in a relatively slow drying liquid is used.

Another very important and related advantage of my invention is that waX, whether melted, in emulsion or in solution, may be solidified by cooling or drying almost immediately after it is deposited or spread upon the surface which it to be polished. Thus, by regulating the circulation of air according to the rate of feed of the wax or other polish and to the temperature or amount of liquid of thel polishing material, my invention makes possible the solidifying of the lilm of polish before, or substantially as it comes under the polishing brush. Furthermore, any ofthe polishwhich may still remain in a gummy condition will. reach first the inner periphery of the annular brush, and will thus be spread and dried before it can reach the outer periphery where the final bufling is given to the polish.n jThus all streaking is avoided and I am able to prevent objectionable gumming of the polishing brush and it becomes possible to operate the devicev continuously without the necessity for changing from a spreading brush to a polishing` brush. The polishing can thus be done in a single operation, instead of in two or more operations, as heretofore. In referring above, and in the accompanying claims, toa film of the polish, it is not intended to necessarily imply this word rather to designate a very thincoating, whether in the form of discrete particles or actually as a continuous film, over the surface v It is also animportant advantage of this apparatus lthat there need be no pads or other devices saturated with waX, which will become hard and'more or less useless upon drying. I do not, however, intend to limit my invention to the particular embodiment illustrated in Fig. l.

In Figs'. 2 and 3, I have shown another example illustrative of numerous spreading devices which may be used according to my invention. In these figures, I have illustrated a rotary air compressor having a circular housing 50, and inlet 5l and an outlet 52, and having within the housing 50 an eccentrically mounted rotor secured upon the shaft 14. This rotor 'carries a spring pressed wiping member 54, which serves to maintain a substantially pressure-tight contact with the inner wall of the housing 50, so that, upon rotation of the rotor 53, air will be drawn in behindthemember 54 from the opening 5l during one rotation, and upon the following rotation will be driven before the member 54 out through the outlet 52. In this embodiment, the tube 26 for delivery of the'polishing material is brought to the edge of the outlet tube 52, so that the stream of air which is blown across the end ofthe tube 26 will serve to atomize the polish and to blow it against the-surface to be polished. It will be understood, of course, that the rotary compressor is shown merely as one example and any other type of blower or compressor may be used.

Although l prefer to use the central guard 24 and its felt pad 27 to support the motor and frame, as shown in the drawing, this is in no way essential to my invention, and in some cases l have found it preferable to terminate the central guard 24 a short distance above the ends of the bristles of the brush 10. Nit-h this arrangement, the bristles of the polishing brush will act as centrifugal impellers to effect circulation of air through the brush, and therefore to draw air under the edge of the central guard 24C and along the surface where the wax has been, or is being spread. rlhus rapid drying of the wax or other polishing material may be promoted, and gumming of the polishing part of the brush may be substantially prevented.

Many other changes and modifications may be made within the scope of my invention, and many other polishing materials than those specifically mentioned, and the device may be used upon many different types of surfaces, including, for example, automobiles and furniture, as well as floors, and may advantageously be made in varying sizes according to the requirements of the particular use to which it is to be put. l/Vhere, as in the case of automobiles, etc., the polisher is to be used upon steel or iron surfaces, it may advantageously be combined with an electromagnet adapted to save the operator from some of the necessity for pressing the device ff-Lf. against the surface, when used on other than horizontal surfaces.

What l claim is:

1. A waxing and polishing device which comprises, a polishing means having an enclosed space whereby when the device is used the polishing means surrounds an unobstructed area upon which wax is to be distributed, a liquid reservoir, means for distributing liquid wax from the reservoir in a comminuted form on and conlining it to a substantial portion of the unobstructed area whereby that portion of the polishing means defining the enclosing space is maintained out of contact with the material being distributed until after the materia-l has contact with the surface to be polished, means .for moving said polishing means relative to said device as a whole, the said device being movable bodily over the surface to be polsi ished whereby the polishing area will gradually encroach upon the distributing'area.

2. A waxing and polishing device as defined in claim 1 which further includes a heater for melting the wax in said reservoir.

3. A waxing and polishing device as delined in claim l which further includes means for circulating air over that portion of the surface upon which wax is distributed.

4. A waxing and polishing device which moving said polishing means relative to said device as a whole, the said device being movable bodily over the surfacev to be polished whereby the polishing area will gradually encroach upon the distributing area.

5. A waxing and polishing device which comprises, a polishing means having an enclosed space whereby when the device is used the polishing means surrounds an unobstructed area upon which wax is to be distributed, a liquid reservoir, a heater for heating the wax in the reservoir, means for distributing wax from the reservoir in a comminuted form on and confining it to a substantial portion of the unobstructed area, which means includes an outlet conduit from the reservoir, a rotatable member for comminuting .the wax and for creating an air blast and a guard interposed between the member and the polishing means, and means for moving said polishing means relative to said device as a whole, the said device being movable bodily over the surface to be polished whereby the polishing area will gradually encroach upon the distributing area.

Signed at New York, New York, this th day of May, 1931.

LUDWIG A. OLSEN. 

